Architecture and design fans – this film festival is for you!

Share

The Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival hits screens in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

A still from Strange and Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island.

Readers, book your tickets, as the country’s best festival of architecture and design films is about to begin! The 2016 Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival kicks off at Auckland’s Rialto Cinemas Newmarket from May 5-18, before heading to Wellington’s Embassy Theatre from May 26-June 12, Dunedin’s Rialto Cinemas from June 16-26, and Christchurch’s Academy Gold from June 30-July 13. There are so many films we want to see.

A building by German architect Gottfied Bohm in the film Concrete Love.

The festival programme features 18 films divided into four themes: Concrete Love (celebrating concrete buildings in all their magnificence), Experiments at Water’s Edge ( fascinating stories about coastal architecture), Design Trailblazers (documentaries about inspiring figures in the architecture and design fields) and Living Cities (films about urbanism and environmental issues).

A still from the documentary Bikes vs Cars.

Some films we’re particularly looking forward to seeing: Strange and Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island is a documentary about the efforts of philanthropist Zita Cobb and architect Todd Saunders to use art and architecture to rejuvenate the culture and economy of an isolated Canadian island.

An artist’s studio on Fogo Island by Todd Saunders.

Double Happiness sounds so crazy we’re definitely going along: it’s a documentary about an Austrian heritage lakeside village being replicated in amazing detail in China. And Arquiteto da Medida Justa examines the incredible architecture and legacy of Brazilian modernists Villanova Artigas and Eduardo de Almeida.

A still from the film Double Happiness.

A still from the film Arquiteto da Medida Justa.

We’re also excited by some American modernist classics, including a documentary about the the Cape Cod baches designed by Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, Built on Narrow Land, and a film about the wondrous architecture of John Lautner, Infinite Space.

A still from the film Built on Narrow Land.

A John Lautner building in the film Infinite Space.

There’s a lot more where those films came from. We urge you to download the full programme and book your tickets at the Rialto website. Enjoy the fest!